Epiphany

At Epiphany, we celebrate the Kings with a festive meal during which a pastry called galette des rois is served. A dry pea and a bean are baked into the pastry, and the person who finds it in his or her piece is declared king or queen.

The cake is divided into as many portions as there are guests and then randomly selected by each person present. “Long live the king! Long live the king!” declares the lucky person who finds the pea and is proclaimed king. The queen receives the same honours when she finds the bean.

Quote from La cuisine raisonnée, nouvelle édition abrégée, Montréal, Fides, 2003. Passage taken from the 1943 edition.